The present invention relates to fructose-sweetened chewing gum compositions. More particularly, the present invention relates to fructose-sweetened chewing gum compositions having enhanced flavor, an increased rate of flavor and sweetness perception, longer flavor and sweetness duration, and better up-front sweetness, achieving such improvements through the use of powdered fructose as a bulk sweetening agent. The invention further relates to powdered-fructose sweetened chewing gum compositions having a reduced calorie content achieved by using less bulk sweetening agent without a loss of sweetness or flavor properties, attributable to the greater sweetness and flavor enhancement provided by powdered fructose.
Until recently, the use of fructose as a bulk sweetening agent was disfavored, despite the fact that fructose is one of the sweetest bulk sweetening agents known, being 132% sweeter than fructose. The sweetness of fructose compared to other bulk sweetening agents ordinarily would permit the formulation of chewing gum compositions of increased sweetness intensity. Additionally, compositions could be formulated using more gum base and less bulk sweetening agent to attain a reduction in calorie content. However, fructose is a humectant and, when used in conventional formulations in combination with an aqueous softening agent, resulted in compositions that gained moisture from the air under typical storage conditions. Consequently, fructose-sweetened products tended to suffer moisture-related product degradation and to soften and stick to the wrapper over time.
Resistance to moisture pick-up has been achieved for chewing gum compositions sweetened by fructose and other bulk sweetening agents in anhydrous formulations using a soft polyvinylacetate (PVA) gum base, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,234. It is also known to achieve calorie reduction in chewing gum formulations by using a major amount, that is, an amount more than 50%, of a soft PVA gum base in combination with up to 0.60% intense sweetener and up to 40% of a bulk sweetening agent, including fructose. The intense sweetener permits the level of bulk sweetener to be reduced from conventional levels in excess of 50% without a sacrifice of product sweetness.
Fructose is a known flavor enhancer, and when used as a bulk sweetening agent in a chewing gum composition, is known to provide a cleaner, pleasant taste and mouthful to the composition, up-front sweetness, a soft chew texture, an improved rate of flavor and sweetness perception, and longer flavor and sweetness duration compared to equivalent formulations using other known bulk sweetening agents. Fructose has also been disfavored because it occurs in a crystalline form that imparts a gritty mouthfeel to chewing gum compositions when used as a bulk sweetening agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,199 discloses the use of fructose in a chewing gum having long-lasting sweetness and soft and smooth consistency, in which the fructose is used in the form of fructose recrystallized from high fructose syrup in combination with sucrose or sorbitol and water. Unlike the present invention, this patent uses crystalline fructose in combination with another bulk sweetening agent to avoid imparting moisture pick-up and a gritty mouthfeel to the chewing gum composition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,244 discloses the use of pure fructose syrup in place of corn syrup as the sweetener-plasticizer-bulking agent in chewing gum compositions. Unlike the present invention, this patent uses fructose syrup in combination with another bulk sweetening agent to avoid imparting moisture pick-up and a gritty mouthfeel to the chewing gum composition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,991 discloses a blend of fructose and sucrose useful as a sweetener in chewing gum compositions and other foodstuffs and having an increased sweetness intensity compared to products sweetened with an equivalent quantity of sucrose. Once more, the crystalline fructose is used in combination with another sweetening agent to avoid imparting moisture pick-up and a gritty mouthfeel to the chewing gum composition.
It has now been discovered that powdered fructose, having a particle size capable of passing through a 70 mesh screen, can be used as the sole bulk sweetening agent in a chewing gum composition and provide increased enhancement of the above-listed organoleptic properties compared to compositions using ordinary crystalline fructose, as well as the conventionally sweetened compositions of the prior art, without imparting moisture pick-up or a gritty mouthfeel. It has further been discovered that acceptable levels of sweetness can be achieved in a reduced calorie chewing gum compositions formulated with a major amount of soft PVA gum base, by using powdered fructose as the bulk sweetening agent.
Other advantages of the present compositions and process of preparation will become apparent from the detailed description provided therein.